Info for Belize

Belize (formerly British Honduras) is situated in Central America south of Mexico and east and north of Guatemala. It has an area of 22,965 sq. km. and a population of 301,300. Capital: Belmopan. Sugar, citrus fruits, chicle and hard woods are exported. Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation until 1992. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy.